Views and Happenings

Month: July 2016

If you happen to be of the Christian Protestant persuasion, particularly Baptist or non-denominational, you’ve been presented with 2 theological stances: continuist vs cessasionist belief. It all has to do with miracles, signs and wonders, charismatic practices, etc. I don’t know which is right. The church I belong to is of the cessasionist camp: that all signs and wonders ceased when Christ was sanctified and that they no longer exist. These signs and wonders took place during the time of Adam and Eve, with Noah, Moses, David, all through the New Testament and including the ascension of Jesus Christ. I’m sure my description is over-simplified, but those are the nuts and bolts. I believe this too, well, for the most part. When special things happen, good and bad, friends will say ‘there are no co-incidences’. I don’t buy into that. I’m not one that thinks God is up in the sky pulling switches and levers. All that magic and miraculous stuff is done, but once in a great while, I do believe things occur that are just too extraordinary to explain. Maybe God slips on in every few hundred years or so…..?

Where am I going with this? Well, do you believe that the United States of America is a nation favored by God? I know it sounds arrogant. It’s hard for me to believe that the current state of affairs in our country brings God much pleasure. But an amazing sign and wonder occurred on July 4, 1826 that has always made me believe God showed us his approval of the way in which our country was formed as One Nation under God.

You know that date in history, not just the Fourth of July, the birthday of our nation’s independence, but a particular Fourth of July in 1826, when our two remaining founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died within 5 hours of each other. Not just dying on the same day, but on the Fourth of July, which was also the 50th anniversary of our Independence. Coincidence? No way. That was from God. Can I get an ‘Amen’?